The parade of two-wheelers snaking toward R.D. White Elementary School could have stocked a bicycle shop. There were mountain bikes, road bikes and beach cruisers with white-wall tires. Helmeted heads bobbed up and down to the rhythm of the pedals.
It was a scene playing out at schools across the country Wednesday as thousands of students flicked up their kickstands and took to the streets for the first national Bike to School event. Sponsored by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, the ride was modeled after its International Walk to School Day —initiatives that are designed to foster pedestrian safety and healthy lifestyles.
Local cycling activists and parent volunteers chose to pilot the inaugural event at R.D. White, which is leading Glendale Unified in its Safe Routes to School efforts. The roughly 30 student cyclists were joined by a dozen community leaders, parents and Glendale police officers.
“This was the first-time try, and I am hoping it will be four times bigger next year,” said Kara Sergile, an R.D. White parent and champion of the Safe Routes to School mission. With the federal grant to the city, she added ““we will be able to do more education and encouragement over the course of the next school years.”
